OPINION - EDITORIAL

Slap in the face

America, land of the free. Sometimes it's worth taking a moment to say that out loud and remember it. Life is good here. Every four years we get together and decide who'll be the most powerful man or woman in the world. And if you don't like him/her? You can protest until you're blue in the face. Strong economy, new technologies, freedom. Yup, life is good.

It shouldn't surprise that many others around the world want to come here. Some want to study, some want jobs, and some want to be near their families and friends. And this country's laws in that regard are pretty reasonable. Our government offers quite a few ways to come to this country: student visas, employer or family sponsorships, heck, there's even an immigration lottery of sorts. But people have to be patient. There's paperwork and bureaucracy and paperwork and regs and more paperwork. After all, this is a government operation.

It's not hard to imagine the surprise of many Americans when thousands of migrants started marching north with the intention of entering our country, many with less than legal methods. This "caravan" was supposed to be stopped at the Mexican/Guatemalan border, but many folks therein continued onward, crossing over rivers, surging past Mexican police and moving further north.

Yes, most of these migrants come from terrible conditions back home. Bad economies, authoritarian governments, roving gangs and more push them onward. And it's easy to sympathize with a single mother who wants nothing more than a better future for her children. We've got plenty of single parents right here in the US of A that are working hard to gain the same.

Mexico and America have something in common, as do most nations. It's called an immigration system. In fact, we have whole agencies dedicated to the enforcement of laws relating to immigration and customs. Nations have the sovereign right to determine who can come into their countries, especially non-citizens. So when thousands of migrants form a caravan, go to the television cameras, and announce their intentions to enter our nation, whether Americans like it or not, some of us get understandably antsy.

You want to create a permanent solution for Dreamers brought here illegally as children? Fine. But that's not a green light for every other migrant to storm our border. If people want to immigrate to the U.S., they need to follow the rules like everyone else.

There's a long line of folks who have waited years, completed mountains of paperwork, passed multiple security checks and are more than eager to get a certificate of naturalization. (We'd encourage everyone to attend a naturalization ceremony. All that hard work paid off. Now they have a home here, a hard-earned legal home. It's moving stuff.)

Now imagine telling those people that came here the right way that thousands of others cut in line without consequence. That'd be a slap in the face to those who waited patiently in line.

We have a process for legal admittance to this country. Our asylum process is not to be abused or manipulated. And if it takes our military being called to defend our southern border, so be it. Contrary to the cries of "no human is illegal!" we do not have open borders.

Feel free to begin your paperwork and get in line like the millions before you. We're not monsters. Just sticklers for the law.

Editorial on 10/23/2018

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